Week 6: I’m in Love With The Robot

I have always loved her. Her angles and edges, the way her wires bend in ever so slightly, the way her boxy frame cast a delicate shadow under fluorescent lighting- It is the season of love, and we here at Miss Daisy are smitten.

We did not know it would happen when we saw her- she was just a mess, a menagerie of custom sheet metal and steel rivets. As one of the captains of the electrical team, I was handed two blank drive bases, a ridiculous amount of 12 gauge wire, and the sole mission to get her driving. With the help of Adam, our controls mentor, we set off, incorporating new devices such as limit switches and servos into our design. While Nicole and I were hard at work stripping wires, our programming team made great strides in crafting functional autonomous code, while simultaneously creating code to track movement using our CMU Pixy Cam for more accurate driver control.

This week, as we added finishing touches in terms of electrical, we saw the robot make massive strides in terms of build. Aching after the impromptu snow day, we took off Friday running, with our hanger and turret system finalized and ready to be put into action. Meanwhile, on the pixelated side of things, the media team has been rapidly pumping out new material, creating our new team banner, editing videos, and being more active on social media than Donald Trump’s Twitter account. With the new launch of Humans of 341, it’s a common occurrence to see our build members being dragged out of the shop by one of our Media rookies in the hopes of getting a quality interview, but that’s no matter.

As my senior year draws to a close, I am leaving a trail of broken hearts in my wake. However, the one that may be most broken is my own, as I go off to college (fingers crossed folks) and leave Miss Daisy behind. From her rainbow LED light shows to the hours spent asking myself “Can I solder this?”, the time I have spent with her is worth all the Netflix binges that I missed out on.

From the minute this build season started, our robot was a concept I was in love with, and I cannot wait to see what we accomplish the rest of this season.PS- Did you know she has a twin 😉